Tilted
by The High Sparrow Must Die
Summary: When Harry thought about his future, he always believed that he would end up being a petty criminal, and people would find him dead at the age of thirty, lying in a dumpster with a bully full of bullet holes. But his life changed forever when a certain half-giant knocked down the Dursley's front door.
1. His Hogwarts Letter

**Warning: Cursing? Bullying?**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

 **BTW Can someone tell me how to add Authors Note Im dying here.**

Harry had always thought that school was like a miniature Sea World. He came up with this analogy in second grade while he was sitting all by himself in the corner of the cafeteria, and found it quiet fitting. You see, school was like the ocean, and most children were all different sorts of harmless fishes. All except one type, the bullies. The bullies were the sharks.

Harry looked up, and saw a familiar gang of boys standing not far ahead of him. His whale of a cousin Dudley was standing in the center of the group,no doubt showing off his brand new shirt from some trending brand for the rest of the group to admire.

Now that he thought about it, Dudley was really more like a whale than anything else... But Harry immediately stopped himself in this train of thoughts because he refused to give up on the sharks analogy, which he was quite fond of. The way Harry saw it, bullies sense weaknesses in other children, just like sharks smell blood a mile away. The moment one shows his weakness, the sharks would bare their teeth, close in on the prey, and feast on its fear and pain.

Dudley was turning in a circle excitedly to let others get a better look at him when he caught sight of the small form of Harry. "Hey, Harry!" he yelled in a commanding tone that was just typical Dudley "Come over here quickly!"

Harry walked over towards them with steady steps, until he came face to face with the group. All the boys were staring down at him now, and blocking his sight with their towering heights.

"What took you so long?" Piers asked.

Harry shrugged "Getting my paper cutter from Dawson, son of a bitch confiscated it."

"Well now you are _finally_ here, let's just get going" Dudley said, and the group, now including Harry, walked slowly through the school playground. They were used to going home together after school: it allowed them to pick on easy targets that had wandered too far away from the "safety zone. "

"You think my parents will get me a shirt like that if I ace my next math test?" Rick wondered out loud. He was a tall boy with hair that looked like a nest made out of straw, and had even less brains than Dudley.

"You? Acing the math test?" Dudley laughed "it'd be like... like..."

Rick didn't wait for Dudley to come up with a witty metaphor "It's not like you got good marks on that exam by yourself, I could do it too if I sat next to Harry, you know!"

Dudley's face reddened, and Harry sighed.

"I could get any grade I want if I tried, but I didn't study, because I didn't want to!" Dudley protested.

Before the argument got any further, Harry cut in.

"The school year's almost over, Rick, and we are going to different middle schools, so this talk is really pointless."

"Right, but I was saying, like hypothetically..." Rick couldn't finish the rest of his sentence, when several lower grade kids playing ball sprinted past the formidable gang, laughing and yelling. Lost in the ball chase, a kid ran dangerously close to Dudley, and the consequences were immediate.

"Watch it!" Dudley sneered, pushing the kid to the ground and hurriedly smoothed his shirt for non-existent creases. Harry couldn't help but roll his eyes at that. None of them paid any attention to the kid who quickly scrambled up from the ground and scurried away, because the next second Dudley was turned towards Harry with an annoyed frown.

"Don't roll your eyes at me like that." He demanded.

Harry answered with another dramatic eye roll.

A wide grin slowly formed on Dudley's face, like he just thought of something very funny "You know what, Harry? I think you are just jealous at me because you don't have what I have." He taunted, as if daring Harry to be mad. But Harry knew the game too well, and he was not going to bite the bait.

"Only in your dreams, Dudley." Harry retaliated, pretending not to notice the group's sudden focus on his pitiful second hand clothes at Dudley's words. Dudley dragged his eyes over Harry's ugly shirt and saggy pants one last time, snorted loudly and turned away, a sign that he let the matter slide for now.

The fact that everything Harry wore were hand downs from Dudley really wasn't news to anyone, but Harry's group of "friends" still liked to poke him with occasional insults when they were bored.

When sharks got put in the same area without any prey nearby, they were bound to go after each other, and the weakest one would get devoured. Harry entertained this idea in his head.

"Hey look, isn't that little Sammy over there?" Piers shouted out.

"What?" The group whipped around and saw a skinny boy on the other side of the field, and confirmed that it was indeed their usual victim little Sammy. Even Harry was a little surprised. He could not believe that the boy still had the courage to walk this way home after what happened last time, but then he saw the boy's source of courage walking right next to him and understood.

"Pyke" Dudley identified the boy escorting their little Sammy, and looked as if he wanted to punch said boy in the guts.

It seemed that Piers shared that impulse "What does he think he's doing?Playing the hero?"

Harry squinted to get a better picture of the boy named Pyke through the broken lenses of his glasses. He had been curious about the boy who reported their "bullying behavior" to the teachers and landed them with a home visit from Mrs Smith. The unbearable presence of Mrs Smith in his house had been an experience he tried to avoid, but he wasn't mad at the boy. It seemed ridiculous too, that Dudley should hold such a grudge against Pyke when his parents only doted on him even more to-in their words-compensate for the harshness of that stupid teacher.

"He's just a crybaby and cries to his parents about everything" Dudley said,stressing every syllable to show how serious he was "We should go teach him a lesson on why he shouldn't tell on us."

"But...What if he tells on us again?" Rick asked weakly "My parents said that if they hear something like that from the teachers again..."

Dudley held his head high like he was the very symbol of courage "Well some teachers don't scare me. My mom says Mrs Smith is stupid and my parents will have a talk with the principal next time she calls me bad names."

"So what are we waiting for? Let's do it now." Piers seemed very enthusiastic about beating the boy up.

"Wait!" Dudley stopped Piers in his track, paused a moment to organize his words, and said "We are going to teach him a lesson, but we will be, like, a bit more careful."

"Careful how?" Rick asked stupidly.

Dudley looked somewhat anxious at this question "I mean like we can't leave any marks on him, or do anything too obvious."

When nobody said anything, Dudley quickly added "Of course I'm not scared of him telling anybody! But my parents said that I have to be careful, if that stupid Smith leaves something on my records I won't get into Smelting, and I need to get into Smelting!"

"So, what can we do to him then?"

"I don't know, just say something..."

"Like what?"

"Like we are going to beat him up"

"Can we beat him though?" Rick asked.

"No, of course not, haven't you been listening to me?!"

"Guys" Harry was watching this exchange in mild amusement, but it was getting a bit annoying "They are almost gone now, just decide on something. "

"Don't tell me what to do! I said we go after him now but you guys just have so many questions!" Dudley had now turned a shade of red purple, and looked like a miniature replicate of his father.

"What do you think we should do?" Rick asked expectantly at Harry.

"Yeah, don't you always have lots of ideas?" Piers added.

Harry tilted his head to the side "Pyke isn't someone we'd normally go after, isn't he? He's got a rich daddy and he's not scared of us. Plus he's disgustingly close with the teachers. Getting him is not worth the trouble." Harry thought it was very considerate of himself to explain this to the boys, at least Rick and Piers nodded in approval, but Dudley did not seem to appreciate this at all. He glared daggers at Harry.

"Well I have some ideas as well!" Dudley crossed his arms and bellowed "We can't have teachers after us, or anything bad on our records, but you wouldn't mind that, right? Since you were going to that correctional school anyway! So I think _you_ should be the one to teach him a lesson."

Immediately Dudley looked very pleased with his amazing idea, and looked at Harry challengingly.

Piers sounded surprised "Let Harry go alone? Come on Dudley, didn't you see the size of that Pyke?"

"If he can't handle that Pyke, maybe he shouldn't be here with us." Dudley said, and leaned in close to Harry in one threatening move, addressing Harry directly "You can go up to him right now and teach him a lesson. But you don't have to, of course, if you are scared of him. If you are so scared,you can even go cry to him about it, and maybe he will let you follow him around like another little minion."

All eyes were on Harry now, scanning for weaknesses and waiting for an reaction.

Harry pushed Dudley away a little so he's not breathing down his neck. "That's actually not a bad idea, Dudley." He said, and started walking towards his targets.

"You are going to be Pyke's minion?" Rick asked, astonished.

Harry couldn't help but roll his eyes again "No, not that idea, the other one!" And he ushered the other boys along "Come on, catch up, do you want to watch me do it or not?"

His target, Pyke, was a fair haired boy. He dressed smartly and had a nice face, probably the reason why the teachers adored him. He was medium sized- just a few inches taller than Harry, but he appeared much larger when he stepped in front of little Sammy protectively at the sign of approaching danger-aka Harry.

"Run to the school bus, I'll hold them off." He said. If this was the movies, little Sammy, the "damsel" in distress, would hug Pyke from behind and cry tearfully "I'll never leave you behind!" But this was not the movies, and Sam kept his head down and ran for dear life.

"Don't worry, I'm not here for your little boyfriend." Harry said teasingly as he approached Pyke, hands in his pockets.

Pyke's nose scrunched up at the insult, but remained mostly calm "Just you?What about your friends, they not coming?"

"Nah" Harry glanced back at the group gathered under a tree and felt their scrutinizing gaze "It's just you and me."

Pyke looked at Harry like he was crazy "You seriously think you can do something to me, Potter?" When Harry only smiled in reply, he just turned around and started walking away.

Harry placed a firm hand on his shoulder to make him stay "Sorry, but I can't let you walk away like this."

Pyke turned around in annoyance, when a look of realization suddenly crossed his face. "They _made_ you come get me, didn't they?" He said, pointing at the Dudley gang not far away, and looking rather smug about his new discovery "They are just a bunch of cowards who only pick on the softies, they can't handle me, so they made you come at me."

"I guess you can say that" Harry said, taking his hand off Pyke's shoulder and putting it back in his pocket.

" You can't seriously think you can fight me." Pyke said a bit condescendingly "If you stop bothering me right now, maybe I won't tell anyone about this"

"You won't?"

"No!" Pyke actually looked down at Harry and sighed, as if he was feeling sorry for him "And you don't have to listen to them, I know they give you trouble all the time. They copy your homework, and they blamed everything on you last time the teachers got them ..." Pyke took a moment to take in the sight of Harry's scrawny body covered in Dudley's old clothes, and the pity in his voice deepened at that "I mean, it's obvious that you are not one of them, so stop trying so hard to fit in..."

This time he was cut off by a sharp blow to his face. His nose made a sickeningly crunching noise, and he stumbled. Almost at the exact same moment, something hard kicked his ankle and Pyke fell into solid ground with a yelp.

Pyke reached up to touch his nose, and felt blood all over his face.

"How...How dare you!" He cried, shaking with anger "My parents will know!"

"And what makes you think I care about that?" Harry examined the bruises on his knuckles absentmindedly, and bent down next to Pyke's crouching form.

The taller boy immediately struggled to get up, knowing that Harry wasn't strong enough to hold him down, but a piece of cold metal against his neck made him stop.

It was Harry's paper cutter. It was, to be honest, rather dull and brittle,and even an adult male would have a hard time making cuts with this, but Pyke still froze like a dead fish in the freezer.

"You wouldn't dare..." He said shakily, swallowing hard under the pressure.

Harry was looming above him now. He may be small, but still large enough cover Pyke's face in the shadow.

"Do you really think I'm afraid of you whining to the teachers?" Harry laughed "You know, you were right that I'm not like the rest of them. Look at me, I have no parents, no money, and I'm about to go to the most shitty school in the area. What do I have got to lose?"

Pyke studied Harry, mind racing. Unfortunately he did not understand the full meaning behind Harry's words, and managed to appear impressively stubborn. "I'm still not scared of you!" he said defiantly "You won't do it."

But Harry could smell his hidden fear. "Maybe I won't cut you right here,right now" Harry said, emerald eyes boring into the Pyke's pupils diluted in fear"But you should be scared, Pyke. This is just the beginning. When I go to my middle school, that shit hole filled with good for nothing delinquents like me, I will make friends with them, like I did with the Dudley gang, and I will tell them all about this little rich kid named Pyke."

The boy turned as pale as a bar of soap.

"About his beautiful house next to the park, what a big hero he was, and how he always keeps a handful of cash in his pockets. Just imagine what's going to happen to you then."

Pyke was now shaking so badly Harry was afraid he would wet himself.

"Don't you think you should be scared of me?"

The boy, eyes red, nodded.

Harry let that sink in, and asked "Will you ever tell the teachers on us again?"

The boy shook his head violently five times.

"Good" Harry said, wiping the blood off Pyke's face with the sleeve of his own expensive shirt, and let him go.

Needless to say, the Dudley gang was impressed.

A few days later, the ever so nosy Mrs. Smith showed up on the Dursley's front porch. His aunt and uncle were reluctant to let her in at first, but became very relieved when they heard that she was here only about problems with Harry. They invited her to have some tea and expressed their anger and disappointment at Harry effusively.

Harry was reading in his cupboard at the time and sipping on iced lemonade he nicked from the kitchen earlier, so he didn't pay any attention to their conversation. Unfortunately the cupboard door was not made to be sound-proof, and Harry still caught why Smith was here this time. Apparently, she suspected that Harry cheated on his finals ( And weren't the Dursley's overjoyed to hear that Harry's good grades were a result of cheating? Harry almost laughed). More importantly, a certain student had been acting strangely lately, but refused to say what's wrong when she asked him about it. So basically, Mrs Smith was here with no evidence except rumors and suspicions. That didn't stop the Dursleys from sharing their hatred for Harry with her though, and they promised to get this neighborhood rid of Harry as soon as physically possible. Their attitude on Smith changed so drastically from this visit, they even insisted on giving her gifts for being so such a good, just teacher. When Smith finally left the house, Harry thought his ears were going to bleed from hearing all the noises they made. Before he could finally read in peace, however, there was a loud bang on his cupboard door.

"Get out of there, boy" Vernon's voice said "We need to talk."

Harry was a bit taken back. Are the Dusleys going to try and scold him again? He could barely remember the last time it happened.

Not that the Dursleys did not love yelling at him, but they realized the futility of their attempts a long time ago. The whole locking him up in the cupboard business stopped working in third grade, when Harry picked up the habit of hiding blunt objects around and damaging the cupboard door whenever he got locked inside for too long. The door he had right now was the fourth one they got.

When the threat of the cupboard failed, dear Uncle Vernon could not help but finally resort to using force. The memory of it brought a smile to Harry's lips. It was in fourth grade, and Harry just sat there looking totally unimpressed when they went through their routine yelling. Vernon was so infuriated that for the first time, he laid his hands on Harry. It was a stinging smack that made Harry see stars in his eyes. But he did not cry or cower. Quite the opposite, he dared the Dursleys to hit him again. "But if you are going to beat me, you better make sure you it kills me" he said "because if I live through this I will make sure everybody finds out about the marks you left me, and if that's not enough, one day I will make sure to leave the exact same marks on your precious son. "

The funny thing was, in his heart Harry was almost scared to death when he said that. He remembered that his fingers trembled and his voice even cracked a little. Fortunately, the Dursleys were too shocked to notice. It worked like a charm and they barely even bothered to scold him again.

Harry guessed at some degree the Dursleys were not really bad people. Someone more vicious could have easily beaten Harry half dead and there would be nothing he could do about it.

While entertaining those thoughts in his head, Harry quietly observed his aunt and uncle, who stared back at him solemnly.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Sit." Aunt Petunia said curtly, her lips pressed into a thin line.

Instincts told Harry that something important was about to happen, so he sat opposite to them obediently and waited for them to break the awkward silence.

"Your head teacher was here, telling us about what a good for nothing trouble-maker you are and what kind of human scum you will grow up to be" His aunt said.

"Yes, I got it the first two thousand times you predicted my future" Harry said "Can we just get to the point?"

His aunt raised her voice "The point is, it has been decided" she exchanged a glance with her husband "that you will not be going to that correctional school anymore."

"What?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Oh Don't look so surprised" Vernon spat angrily, as if he was making the most hated decision in his life "We are not stupid, we know it won't be able to control you and your freakish ways!"

Harry thought the "not stupid" part was very debatable, but did not make any sarcastic remarks because he was curious where this conversation was going.

"Therefore it had been decided that you will be going to this... boarding school" Aunt Petunia said. She produced a large envelope from her bag and threw it at Harry, as if it contained some deadly virus. "You will go to this school and we won't have to see you except for the summer holidays."

Harry stared at the envelope in his hand. It had been a while since the last time he was so lost and confused. He opened the envelope, (ignoring Vernon's cry of "Open it somewhere else!") and found lying inside, another envelope...except this one was not blank, but had his name and address written on it. It even said he lived in the cupboard under the stairs.

Harry deftly ripped that envelope open as well to see what's inside. He found a long piece of parchment paper, the heading said "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class. Grand Sorcerer. Chief Warlock. Supreme Mug..."

What the fuck is a Mugwump, and what is it with this letter? Harry stared at his relatives in disbelief. Is he supposed to believe that he is a wizard and going to a special, magical school for wizards?

"I'm not sure if this is a joke, or your attempt to land me in a mental hospital. " Harry said uncertainly.

"No, you brat! You are going there and the decision is final." Aunt Petunia snapped "You will be going no matter what and hopefully the freaks there can get a handle of you!"

"I thought you hate everything freaks related." Harry said half jokingly,unsure how to react.

His aunt glared at him, the veins in his neck protruding "Of course we do! But you are one of the freaks and nothing can change that. Everything you've done is to destroy our family life and be a bad influence on Dudley. It is better to have you be a freak away from our house than become some drug lordhere and bring the cops to our doorstep." Petunia shuddered while saying this, as if her vivid imagination of cops knocking on her door was too much to bear.

"What? Can you just let it go? It was a joke!" Harry protested. He joked about becoming a drug lord one time and now the Dursleys firmly believed it. Their lack of a sense of humor was truly appalling.

"Don't try to deny it boy!" Thanks to Petunia, Vernon's now completely worked up as well, bellowing like a volcano about to explode "There's no doubt you will grow up to be a menace to society, some thief, robber,rapist...!"

"Ok, yes, you've made your point!" Harry interrupted "I'll have a hard time living up to your high expectations."

"... It's better to let the other freaks take care of you. Even if you blow yourself up just like your parents did, it won't be our problem anymore!"

The anger and loathing in Vernon's eyes were so real, almost tangible, that something clicked in Harry's mind.

"You are being serious." Harry could not believe it. Of course his relatives had always been nothing but serious, what Harry meant to say was, they truly believed in wizards and witchcraft, and it was real.

Memories he had almost forgotten suddenly came flooding back. How he appeared miraculously in impossible places, how his hair grew back overnight. It all made sense now. It was because he was a wizard, and they were not. He never belonged here and it was the reason behind every shitty thing the Dursleys did to him when he was little.

"...What do you mean my parents blew themselves up? Were they fre...wizards too?" Harry asked with great effort "And there were lots of others like them out there? "

"Your parents...!"

The Dursleys didn't have to finish their sentence, the expression on their faces already gave Harry the answer he needed.

"I can't believe it." Harry muttered.

"Your parents got themselves what they deserved for their freakish business" Vernon said, delighted to see the torn expression on Harry's face "And you'd better believe it, because we are sending you to that school no matter what..."

"No! Shut up!" It was like something else had possessed Harry, who suddenly stood up screaming, knocking his chair back with a screech "You said they were alcoholics and criminals! You said they died from drunk driving! How long would you have hid it from me you fucking liars?!" Harry swept Petunia's tea set off the table in one violent move, and the loud crack of delicate china smashing against the floor filled the room. Harry grabbed his letter, stormed off into the cupboard and slammed the door after him.

 **Congrats on making the first chapter! This fic is basically a reaction against the kind of plot with Harry so good and innocent, but pushed over the edge by bullies and goes dark. I just wanted to do things differently. This fic will have some InsensitiveJerk!Harry but it will NOT be Dark!Harry, and there will be No Bashing so sorry to disappoint if you are into really dark fics. This is not one of them.**


	2. His Shopping Trip

**Disclaimer: i still own nothing.**

 **Some sentecnes are taken out of the books**

On the morning of his eleventh birthday, Harry emerged from his cupboard later than usual. It just happened that the Dursleys family were having a conversation about him at the breakfast table.

"So what school is Harry going to now?" Dudley asked with a mouthful of bacon.

Harry walked casually by and answered "Magical school."

"Dad, he said the M-word!"

"Don't listen to a word he says!" Vernon made a strangled noise in his throat and covered Dudley's ears.

Harry yawned and went into the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea. He was watching the water heat up with a bored look, when there was a deafening bang at the front door. Petunia startled, almost losing her grip on the frying pan. Vernon was even more entertaining to watch: he rolled off the chair with an agility Harry didn't know he possessed, ran to the window, took a cautious peek outside, and pulled the shutters close in panic.

"Has someone come to get Harry?" Petunia asked with a tremor.

Vernon nodded at his wife and ordered "Go back to your room, Dudley!"

"But I wanna see..."

"Now!"

Dudley's eyes widened at his Dad's harsh voice, and began hollering and kicking, almost turning the table over in his fit "I wanna see I wanna see..!"

"I'll get the door" Harry said to nobody in particular, and began walking up to the door.

One step.

Two step.

"BOOM!" a bang even louder than the first one shook the entire house. It knocked the creamy white door the Dursleys loved so much clear off its hinges. The dissembled door flew right before Harry's eyes, only narrowly missing his head, and landed a few feet away.

In the doorway stood the the largest man Harry had ever seen.

Petunia almost fainted "The neighbors must have seen..." And Dudley, who was a very jiggly lump of fat one moment ago, let out a shrill cry and became still.

Harry, despite his near face to face contact with the door, watched the giant with keen interest. The giant grumbled something like "Didn't mean ter do that" and stepped into the house. His face was a wild mess of tangled beard, and he had to bend over to fit into the door frame.

"Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could ye?" He said to the still frozen Dursleys. That somehow shook Vernon out of his stupor. He used his wide girth to shield his family behind him (Petunia completely disappeared out of sight), and produced from under the table a ...is that a rifle? Did he keep that under the table the entire time?

Now armed, Vernon yelled with renewed determination: "You! Get your boy and then get out of our house! We don't want any trouble with your kind."

The giant did not even flinch being held at the end of a rifle. When he laughed, it sounded like someone blowing a horn. "You lot are a bunch o' biggest muggles I've ever seen."

Harry decided that if he was both magical and a giant, they wouldn't need to pay any attention to the Dursley's threats. "Please sit" Harry said "I'll make you some tea."

The giant lowered his head to search for the source of that voice, and found Harry standing right next to him, smiling.

"Harry!" The giant beamed at him "Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby!"

"We've met?"

"Ye was only this small then, you wouldn't remember" The giant made the gesture of cradling a baby in his arms "Yeh look a lot like your dad, and yeh've got your mom's eyes."

"I..." Harry was trying to find his words, when the giant began rummaging through his pockets " Oh, can't forget this. A very happy birthday to yeh! I've got summat fer yeh here- might've sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right."

From a pocket in his insanely large overcoat, he pulled out a slightly deformed box, which Harry took with both hands hesitantly. Harry opened the box and found a large chocolate cake, a tiny bit over-cooked around the edges, with the words "Happy Birthday Harry" written on it in green icing.

Harry had received cheap candies and stuff from people he knew at school on his birthdays, but he's never had a cake. And he always thought he had long outgrown the need for something this childish, but guess what, a giant from magic-land showed up and dropped one into his lap.

"Thank you" Harry said, and he meant it too "um..professor?"

The giant laughed "Oh, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts, and I'm no professor, ye can just call me Hagrid."

Right at that time, the boiler in the kitchen whistled. "I'll get that" Harry put the cake on the table and went in the kitchen.

The Dursleys watched him make tea with horrified looks "I won't allow that thing in my house any longer! And we are not serving him any tea!"

Harry pretended to be surprised at their voice "You guys are still here?"

Hagrid chuckled "I'd not say no to summat stronger if yeh can find it, Harry."

Harry stopped in his process of making tea, and opened up the Dursley's wine cabinet, where he dug deep and found two bottles of high quality wine the Dursleys had been saving for the right time to impress important guests.

Petunia gasped, and Vernon trembled with anger "You will take your hands off my wine and get out of our house with that creature right-"

Vernon was cut off by a force that yanked the rifle from his hands. Probably even Vernon himself did not notice that in his fury, he had turned the aim of the rifle onto Harry, but Hagrid did not miss that. He wrested the rifle from Vernon like taking candy from a baby.

"Do NOT point that thing at Harry!" He thundered, twisting the metal into a knot as if it was made of rubber.

The Dursleys made undignified noises in unison, and Harry flashed a smile at their ashen faces.

"Do you mind if we leave now to do the shopping, Hagrid?" Harry asked, handing Hagrid the bottles "My relatives can get very loud sometimes."

"Of course, 'arry" Hagrid said cheerfully, popping open a bottle with his hand "I haven't had muggle wine in a long time."

"What's a muggle?" Harry asked curiously as they stepped over the carcass of the front door and left the Dursleys.

Harry thought they were going to travel by some special, magical way, but Hagrid took him to the subway. Harry couldn't help but be a little disappointed, but the sight of a giant drinking wine from the bottle and talking about incomprehensible nonsense traumatized a great number of passer-bys, which Harry found quite amusing.

Harry also found Hagrid to be a big talker, especially with alcohol in his system. When they arrived before a shady looking pub, Harry's head was already swimming with information on Hogwarts, magical creatures and a man named Dumbledore, who according to Hagrid was the greatest wizard of the century.

"I thought we are going shopping for school supplies?" Harry asked. Not that he would mind it at all if Hagrid took him drinking, but he needed to buy those things too.

"Thats exactly where we go" Hagrid said "It's the Leaky Cauldron. Ye haven't heard o' it before?"

Without further explanation Hagrid led Harry into the shabby pub. There was a smell of sweetened ale and smoke, and the bartender waved at Hagrid.

"The usual, Hagrid?" He asked.

"I wish I could Tom" Hagrid was a little flushed from the two bottles of wine, and looked very tempted at the proposal "But I'm on Hogwarts business here."

"I won't mind at all, Hagrid" Harry said.

"But I really mustn't" Hagrid insisted, despite looking very torn "I'm on Dumbledore's orders as well."

"If you insist" Tom the bartender shrugged, when his eyes suddenly landed on Harry, and he took in a shaky breath "Good Lord!-is that, is that Harry Potter?"

"Um, yes. Have we met?" Harry asked, wondering how anyone could be so dramatic, then the pub fell completely silent.

All the whispering and talking died out, as if someone had sucked all the air out of this place. When Harry turned around -he swear it was the freakiest thing he had ever seen- every single person in the pub had their eyes fixated on him.

"Bless my soul. What an honor to meet you, Mr. Potter." The bartender ran to Harry with tears in his eyes and grabbed Harry's little hands in his.

"Nice to meet you too?" Was all Harry managed to say in his confusion.

"Welcome back, welcome back" Tom said, still gripping on Harry's hands tightly.

People from this pub had left their seats and made a circle around them. Men and women four times his age took their hats off for him, and a man who introduced himself as Dedalus Diggle came up to shake his hand as soon as the bartender let go of him.

"You don't know how delighted I am to finally meet you, Mr. Potter."

"Oh I can't believe this is really happening."

"I'm all of a flutter."

One by one, people went up to shake his hand. When a disturbingly pale young man took Harry's hand in his own cold, clammy ones and stuttered "C-can't t-tell you how p-pleased I am to m-meet you", Harry had to put a stop to this madness before it was too late.

"I'm afraid you have the wrong Harry Potter." Harry declared as loudly as he could so everyone could hear.

"What are ye talking about? Yeh are the one an' only Harry Potter!" Hagrid said, and many from the crowd chorused that.

"But why would you be excited to see me? I haven't met any of you before." Harry asked with genuine confusion.

"Why? You are the Boy Who Lived! Everyone would love to meet you in person!" A witch in violet dress exclaimed.

It did nothing but add to Harry's confusion "Sorry, but I don't know what you are talking about."

The crowd fell silent again, but this time from shock and disbelief. Hagrid slapped himself hard on the head with sudden realization "Those muggle, didn't they tell ye anything? That night-how yer parents died but you lived?"

Harry slowly shook his head.

Hagrid took out a dirty handkerchief from one of his many pockets and blew into it, unable to stop his emotional reaction "Cant believe- Lily an' James Potter's son! Don't know how his parents died!"

"I know they blew themselves up somehow. "Harry thought darkly.

Moved by Hagrid's cry, the others in the pub finally caught up on the situation, and soon the pub was filled with wailing and impassioned cries.

Harry thought it was the biggest overreaction of the century.

"How could you not know? You are our hero!" A witch looked as if a puppy just died in front of her eyes.

Following her example, at least a dozen people began talking all at once about what happened, as if they were trying to drill that information into Harry as quickly as possible. A few even disagreed on their account of the tale and it quickly escalated into an argument.

"It was Halloween night, and You-Know-Who came to your house-"

"-Your parents, brilliant people! They died, but miraculously you survived-"

"-a very dark curse!"

"You-Know-Who died-"

"No, he did not! He merely disappeared-"

Harry's head started ringing.

"Guys, please, can you just let one person tell me what happened?"

But the crowd couldn't agree on who should be the one to tell Harry that all important story, so five minutes later found everyone sitting around the biggest table Tom could get, with ale or whiskey in their hands. Whoever could find a seat sat down, others took out thin sticks from their robes and conjured up chairs.

Harry sat between Hagrid and that pale stuttering young man, and listened. Thankfully the people were not talking all at once anymore, and it made piecing a story together much easier.

They all agreed that there was this super evil wizard You-Know-Who, who wanted his parents dead. Nobody knew why and how Harry survived the deadly curse You-Know-Who shot at him. They also all said his parents were great people and brilliant at magic. They shared bits of information here and there that they knew about his parents, and as the discussion went on, two people even started crying. One blamed the firewhiskey that made him too emotional, another said it reminded her of her niece, whom she lost during the war. As soon as the atmosphere got really emotional, tears the size of beans began rolling off Hagrid's face and pouring into the cup of ale in his hands.

Harry had been counting. Hagrid was on his third cup of ale and now crying for absolutely no reason at all. There was no doubt the giant was at least a little drunk.

"Do you think You-Know-Who is dead or just disappeared, Harry?" One of the two people still arguing vehemently about that mystery turned to ask Harry. They obviously thought Harry would have the ultimate authority on this, but in their infinite wisdom they forgot to count the fact that Harry was only one year old at that time.

"Sorry, I've got no idea." Harry said "but I actually have a question about this You-Know-Who."

"Ask away, my dear!" A witch said "We will do our best to answer you."

"Well. you all call this wizard You-Know-Who, but does anyone know his real name?"

Harry asked. He didn't think this question would be difficult at all, but many fell silent, and lowered their heads into their drinks.

"Harry, you have to understand, he was a very, very feared wizard." Someone started.

"Yes, and people say he put a taboo on his name, so nobody will be able to speak it!" Another added.

"Come on" a louder voice said "Harry has a right to know, we have to tell him!"

The rest murmured in agreement, but nobody had the guts to say that name. One made visible efforts to pronounce it, but lost his courage at the first syllable. Suddenly, someone turned an expectant look on the pale stuttering man next to Harry, who had been silent through most of the discussion.

"Professor Quirrel, you teach the Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, you are the most qualified here to speak that name."

Harry studied the pale man with fresh interest. This man? A professor? Unless he had some magic to help with the stuttering, classes would definitely be like hell.

Following his lead, so many hopeful eyes focused on Quirrell, who barely knew where to put his hands under this extreme pressure.

"Please professor?" Harry's words were like the last straw. Quirrell fidgeted, and stuttered even more than usual.

"O-okay. I'll s-say it, but o-only o-once."

The whole pub was quiet now, waiting for Quirrell to say that forbidden name.

Quirrell took in a shaky breath, and whispered in a tiny voice

"V-v-vold-d-d-"

Everyone around the table were so solemn and nervous, they were even afraid to breathe too loudly. The silence was unbearable to Harry, who was struggling against the urge to laugh with all his strength. It wasn't even that funny! But the more inappropriate the situation, the more it made him want to burst out laughing.

"-d-d-d-"

Professor Quirrell continued stammering.

Just when Harry thought this torture would last forever, Hagrid slammed the table with his huge fist and his voice boomed

"If ye won't finish, I'll say it -VOLDEMORT! That's his name!"

The crowd shuddered, and immediately following that, exploded into loud cheers. People raised their glasses to Hagrid, who got his fourth cup of drink from who knows where, and thank the gods, Harry could finally drop his mask of seriousness. A laugh forced itself through his nose and ended up as a loud snort. Before he had time to collect himself, however, a burning pain in his head made him wince. He instinctively reach up to find it was his scar hurting. It felt like someone was tearing his skin with a knife.

Only the ones close to Harry noticed his condition. They stopped their cheering and joking and gave him concerned looks.

As sudden as it had started, the pain stopped. Hagrid was leaning over him,asking what's wrong.

"I'm fine." Harry reassured the giant.

"A-are you s-sure you are a-all right?" Quirrell asked "You l-looked like you were i-in p-pain."

Harry waited patiently for him to finish talking this time, and said "Yeah. I'm just a little tired."

Quirrell have him a weak smile, and Harry suddenly realized he had just laughed at one of his professors for stuttering, a professor who would teach him for the next seven years to come.

Fuck.

"Hey my friends, Harry here is tired. Should we call it a day?" One of the wizards next to Harry yelled.

"Oh it is a bit late. We should probably let him go get some rest-"

"Boom!" Hagrid slammed the table again and _roared_ at Harry "Your shopping!"

Before Harry could say anything, he was practically lifted out of his chair.

"Bye-" was all he managed to say to the group of helpful wizards and witches, before Hagrid dragged him out of the bar and into a small courtyard.

"Gallopin' Gorgons! We stayed fer too long!" Hagrid cursed.

"Think we can finish all the shopping in time?" Harry asked cheerfully.

"We have ter hurry, with yer money, yer uniforms and books-and I have ter get the Stone from Gringotts fer Dumbledore-"

Hagrid cursed again.

Harry blinked.

"...That was top secret Harry, I should not have said that."

"...I didn't hear anything?"


	3. His New Friends

**Disclaimer: I continue to own nothing**

The shopping trip to Diagon Alley had been short and hurried. Harry barely had any time to explore the exciting Wizarding World, but he got all of his supplies taken care of, and Hagrid got that important "Stone" of his from Gringotts without much of a fuss, so he couldn't complain.

All he had left to do was wait patiently for school to start. Harry abided his time and spent his days quietly reading.

When September 1st finally came, Harry was slightly concerned about the Platform Nine and Three-Quarters mentioned on the ticket. Last time he checked, people didn't name platforms with fractions, but he decided to leave it for now and get to King's Cross station first. Taking the subway was out of the question with a huge luggage bag and Hedwig, his owl (he read names from his magical history textbook until the owl pecked him at Hedwig, so Hedwig it was). That left him with one option.

"Uncle Vernon" Harry approached the man after he was all packed up and ready to go "It says on my ticket that I need to get to Kings Cross Station today. Will you drive me?"

Vernon lifted his head from the newspaper and said gruffly "If you think I would be your personal _chauffeur_ after all those blasted noises you made every night, think again."

"But how can I get to the station if you won't drive me?"

Vernon's face stretched into a nasty grin "That's not my problem, boy. I suggest you throw away that stupid bird of yours and try public transportation."

Harry fought down the urge to roll his eyes. He got what was going on here: Vernon wanted to see him beg for a ride. How cute. That poor man, holding a grudge against him for so long without an outlet, but Harry wasn't about to let him get what he wanted so easily.

"Fine" Harry tossed the ticket on the table and walked away.

Within seconds, his uncle's booming voice called after him. "Wait! What do you think you are doing?"

"I guess I'm not going to Hogwarts then" Harry shrugged "I was having second thoughts about it anyway."

"Second thoughts!" Vernon shouted, as if he found that very idea extremely offensive.

"Yeah, I can just study magic on my own at home, and do what I really want to do-follow my dreams of becoming a drug lord. I can start small with selling drugs in the streets, and if I'm lucky I can even start my own drug cartel in five years."

"You! You will not terrorize this house any longer!" Vernon said in horror "You will go to that freaks school, where you belong!"

Harry seemed completely unfazed by this outbreak "Yelling won't help you, Uncle. It's my own choice."

Finally, the seriousness of this situation downed on Vernon, who almost teared the newspaper in his hands while frantically searching for words "But this is your opportunity to get away from us, and...you get to use your freaky powers freely!"

"Sure I may be free and rich in the Wizarding World, but there's this super evil Dark Lord who killed my parents, and he wants to kill me too " Harry said "I gave it some thought, and I think there's a smaller chance that he will find me if I just hide here with you guys."

Vernon shot out of the sofa like a canon ball "You will get in the car with me right now and go to-" he read from the ticket on the table "-Kings Cross station!"

Harry raised an eyebrow "Are you ordering me? You know I hate that."

"You-!" Vernon opened his mouth wide and closed it "Be reasonable..Harry" he visibly choked on saying that name "Just let me drive you there, and you'll see that it's the better choice for you."

"Say 'please', and I'll consider it" Harry smirked.

The man had turned so reddened, and shaking so violently, Harry was afraid he would fall into a stroke. Deciding that he'd better not push Vernon's buttons too hard, Harry skipped to the garage happily "Fine, let's go then. Be good and get my luggage into the trunk for me, please?"

A fuse in Vernon's head probably burned out from an overload of anger, because he stayed still, frozen in his standing position like an overweight statue. Hearing no reply, Harry poked his head back into the living room "Oh and by the way, you totally deserved those 'blasted noises' I made for throwing away my birthday cake. Hurry up now, we haven't got all day."

-A few hours later-

As soon as they were at the station, Vernon threw Harry and his luggage out of the car like a plague, and drove away with the speed of someone who just robbed a bank. Harry was in a good mood, and began searching for a Platform Nine and Three-Quarters immediately. Green eyes darted from Platform Number Nine, then to Platform Number Ten, and stared at the empty space and red brick wall between them.

"Maybe it's a test for Hogwarts, and the ones that don't get on the train in time get expelled." Harry thought excitedly. Just as he was brainstorming for a good approach, Hedwig hooted haughtily in its cage - a signal that she wanted out.

"What do you have for me, girl?" Harry barely hesitated before setting the snowy owl free in the crowded train station.

Hedwig flapped its wings and took off into the air. It flew over an ocean of travelers and carts, made a circle midair, and plunged straight at the wall between Platforms Nine and Ten. Just before its body hit the solid bricks, however, it vanished into the wall without a trace.

"Ok" Harry muttered to himself "that was easy."

After a few looks around to make sure no muggles were watching, Harry broke into a small run at the wall and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he was in an entirely different world.

Before him was a busy platform, full of families and children of different ages, with so many different types of pets making a cacophony of hoots and squeaks and meows. A majestic red steam train, filled to the brim with students, awaited him under a plastic sign that read Platform Nine and Three Quarters.

Hedwig swooped down and landed on Harry's luggage. "Good girl" Harry said, pushing his cart forward. The first dozen compartments were already completely filled, and he had to walk past half the train to find a compartment that seemed to have an empty seat available. Harry took a deep breath, and began unloading his luggage. Or, to be more exact, he was making a pathetic attempt at lifting the luggage while hoping that some kind-hearted stranger would feel compelled to give him a hand.

"Need a hand with that?" A tall, red haired boy asked.

"Yes, please." Harry said.

The kind-hearted stranger lifted his luggage effortlessly. Harry noticed that he had on a billowing black robe and a silver pin with the letter P.

"First year?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"There you go" He said when Harry's luggage was safely tucked away in a corner "I'm Percy, the Gryffindor prefect, you can come to me if you have any questions."

"Thank you." Harry shook his hand briefly.

"You should try to put on more weight, you know." Percy said with a hint of concern.

Harry's smile faltered. Number one rule of peaceful coexistence with Harry Potter, is that you do not talk about how small or short he is. Ever. Harry wanted to tell the boy to fucking mind his own business, but it came out as a "Really? I haven't noticed."

Percy did not pay much attention to his reply though, after all it was only an off hand comment for him. He stepped into the compartment, and Harry followed.

"Why isn't anyone here?" Harry asked curiously. The compartment had several luggage bags lying around, but was otherwise empty.

"Lee Jordan and his bloody tarantula." Percy said under his breath, and started walking towards the middle of the train in large strides.

Harry's radar for interesting things beeped at that, and he quickly followed the red haired prefect.

They arrived at a compartment in the middle of the train. It was almost packed with students, mostly upper classmen. Percy was shouting "Prefect, coming through" and peeling through the crowd. In the middle was a dark skinned boy with neat dreadlocks. He was holding a suitcase but slammed it shut the moment he saw Percy's face. Whatever creature was in the suitcase did not have time to properly get back in, for a hairy, long leg stuck out of opening, twitching.

"Show me what's in the case, Lee." Percy crossed his arms authoritatively at Dreadlocks.

"Come on Percy-"A voice said.

"-Don't be such a killjoy!" Another almost identical voice finished the sentence.

Harry found that they were a pair of twins, who looked like perfect clones of each other.

"They are the Weasley twins, and they are said to be very successful pranksters." A boy next to Harry caught his curious look and supplied. He was around Harry's age, and chewing on a piece of orange colored food. The wrapper said Pumpkin Pasty.

"You guys are causing a commotion before we even got to school" Percy chided "Tarantulas are not allowed as pets."

"Nobody ever said we can't have a tarantula, mate." Dreadlocks had finally tucked that disturbing leg back into his suitcase and said.

"Exactly, dear brother-" the twins echoed "-Can you find where in the school rules it says that?"

Harry watched their interactions with interest, albeit a bit disappointed at not seeing the huge tarantula.

"Shame, I wanted to see what it looks like."

The boy next to him sighed "Me too."

"Are you also a first year?" Harry asked.

"Yes. Seamus Finnigan. You?"

Harry lowered his voice "Harry Potter."

"Harry Potter?" Seamus's eyes widened " _the_ Harry Potter?"

"Harry Potter!" An exaggerated cry came from a student standing before them, having unintentionally eavesdropped on their conversation.

"What?"

"Harry Potter's here?"

A hurricane of whispers took over the entire compartment. Disappointed bystanders who shuffled out when the tarantula was put away immediately doubled back. Even the dreadlocks, the twins and the prefect stopped in their heated discussion to look at him.

"Yes I am" Harry said to Seamus "and it's a tad bit inconvenient sometimes."

An empty space quickly formed around Harry and Seamus. The people around them all took a few steps back to take in the whole picture of Harry Potter. Seamus was just the unfortunate collateral damage by proximity. Layers and layers of people were staring at Harry now, eyes focused on his forehead as if they could lift up his bangs by sheer force of concentration.

Harry was about to show them his scar to satisfy their curiosity once and for all, when a bush of brown hair squeezed through layers of people and landed in front of him.

The bush turned out to be a young girl. "Excuse me, has anyone seen a toad?" She asked bossily, completely oblivious to the intense situation before her, until she laid eyes on Harry.

"Why are they all staring at you?" She asked with a frown.

Harry smiled awkwardly and lifted his bang.

A few more gasps came from the crowd. The news of Harry Potters presence was now spreading like fire over wood drenched in gasoline, and more people swarmed into the compartment to see him.

"Oh, you are Harry Potter!" She said quickly without stopping "I know all about you. Of course- I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."

"..I see" It was a very rare for Harry to be at a loss for words, but this girl did it.

"Didn't you know? I'd found out everything I could if was me. I'm Hermione Granger by the way" The girl started chatting him up right there, surrounded by a wall of gawking spectators "Do you know which House we will be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'll be in Gryffindor. It sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad.."

A few proud Ravenclaws from the crowd looked very indignant at being called "not too bad."

"Wait, I remember seeing a toad!" Harry blurted out "It was in the second compartment that way."

Harry pointed to his left.

"Oh Why didn't you say something earlier?" The girl said "Anyway, I've got to go find it now. You should get back to your compartment, the train would leave in a minute."

With that said, she stormed away, the crowd parting to make a path for her this time.

Harry sighed in relief, before he could have time to deal with the crowd still around him, though, another child's voice cut through the now silent compartment. "Is Harry Potter in here?"

Two thickset boys forced their way through the crowd, and a pale boy with an odd platinum hair color emerged between them. He looked at Harry, who was literally in the center of all people, and declared "You must be Harry Potter."

"Very acute observation." Harry deadpaned.

"And you have a very sharp tongue" the boy said with a smirk. He was looking at Harry with a raised chin despite being only two inches taller "I am Malfoy. Draco, Malfoy."

His name seemed to have piqued the crowds interest even more, for they were now all staring intently with unreadable expressions.

Harry shook the boy's outstretched hand quickly to get it over with. After being stared at like some rare animal and intruded on by weird children, his good mood had now completely gone sour.

"So you already know who I am, Malfoy, what do you want with me?"

"I would like to invite you to my compartment and meet my friends" the boy drawled "You will find that some families in the Wizarding World are more worthy of befriending than others."

Another radar in Harry beeped, sounded the siren and flashed red lights. He sized the boy up carefully, from the slick platinum hair to the smug smile to the two heavyset henchmen behind him.

It was blatantly obvious. How didn't he see it sooner? He could always recognize a shark when he saw one.

"Sure, anything to get me out of here." Harry said with a faked casual tone.

Silver-blue eyes lit up "Good, follow me. Where's your luggage? I can let Crabbe bring it to us."

"Thanks. It's three compartments away, the one on the left." Harry said cheerfully, relieved at having someone take care of his luggage.

And just like that, before almost fifty pairs of watching eyes, Malfoy led Harry into his compartment and shut the door.

Harry confirmed his radar to be 100% accurate after meeting Malfoy's group of friends.

There were two boys already siiting there, whom Malfoy introduced as Zabini and Nott. Parkinson and the girls visited from a different compartment for a look at Harry Potter as well. It was weird to be treated like a celebrity wherever he went, but it was nothing he couldnt get used to. At the same time, he was curious about the statement Malfoy made earlier on families, and soon he was given a short tutorial on bloodlines, heritages and traditions. He used to think that only adults obsess over those things but apparently he was wrong. Potter happened to be one of these ancient "pureblood" families too, according to Malfoy. Not that it really mattered, because he was the Boy Who Lived, and no one could question his right to sit among them.

Frankly, Harry didn't care about any of that-he barely cared about anything. But he played along. It had always given him a strange sense of comfort to sit among the predators, which the boys no doubt were, especially that Blaise Zabini, who was always so calm and composed-Harry could tell his blood was ice cold. They chatted amiably through the train ride, and Harry gained a wide range of information on Hogwarts and the Ministry.

When the train arrived at Hogwarts, Harry was surprised to see Hagrid there, holding a lamp for the first years in the dark like a mini lighthouse.

"First ' years! Firs' years over here! All right there Harry?"

Hagrid beamed at Harry, who gave him a small nod in reply.

"You let that half breed call you by your first name?" Malfoy asked with a look of disgust.

"I can't control what he says" Harry said with ease, and smiled through Malfoy's disparaging comment that followed. It was too easy. He had been playing the game for years and pretense came to him as natural as breathing.

Harry knew that to be a member in this new group, he had to tread carefully, because they were of a much higher caliber than the bullies in his muggle school. He could feel something special about them. They knew for a fact that they were born into the top of the food chain. And with that knowledge there was a look of confidence bordering on arrogance and an insatiable hunger in their eyes. A hunger that Harry did not possess. But that only intrigued him more. It felt like a great adventure to play this game.

Looking up at Hogwarts from the lake, the grand castle with its breath-taking beauty, Harry felt a tinge of excitement in his heart.

What Harry did not know was that eventually, all that excitement turned out to be useless because the Sorting Hat put him in Gryffindor.

The entire sorting process for him took less than two minutes. Harry heard his name called by the stern professor McGonagall, and walked up.

Sitting on the stool Harry had a view of the entire magnificent hall, lit up by thousands of floating candles, and also a view of all the students with their eyes fixed on him. The hat was quickly dropped on his head and covered his eyes.

In the darkness, Harry heard a voice

"Difficult, very difficult...You have an impressive labyrinth in your mind for someone your age, um, indeed, very twisted."

"That's a bit harsh" Harry commented in his head.

"Not that twisted. No, I don't mean it like that. " The Hat explained quickly "What I meant to say is I have encountered many twists and turns. Very interesting. A healthy labyrinth, but easy to get lost too..."

Harry smiled. The Hat sounded a bit mad, but it didn't matter as long as it could shout out a House-preferably Slytherin. His group of new friends had told him everything they knew about the Sorting ceremony back on the train, and were quiet adamant that Slytherin was the only option. If the Hat was unsure where to put you, they said, you should insist on going to Slytherin.

"I'm glad to hear that my head has been fun for you, but people are waiting for me to be sorted."

"Yes, the sorting...That's where it gets difficult. You see. It seems like you have none of the qualities any of the Houses want." the Hat said.

"What?" Harry was shocked, and frankly, very much insulted. From what he heard about the Houses, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff may be far-fetched for him, but Gryffindor and Slytherin? Really? What does it mean he has none of the qualities?

Harry was suddenly feeling very uncomfortable about exposing his mind completely. If the Hat was a person standing before him, he could control his body language or even conjure up a polite smile, but the Hat had every access to his mind and heard that bewildered cry in his head loud and clear.

"There's no need to feel insulted, I'm not denying your talent or your potential" The Hat went on "Indeed, you would make a great Slytherin, if you even had an ounce of ambition; or a great Gryffindor, if you had more courage..."

"Anyone has some degree of ambition. Just because I suck at planning for the future doesn't mean that I'm an exception." Harry said.

"You may think that is true, but I see through the traps and behind the closed doors, and I couldn't find any desire to approve your worth anywhere!"

"Maybe you are broken" Harry almost said, but he bit his lips and ordered himself to calm down. When Malfoy told him about the Sorting Hat on he train, he should have known. It was his mistake to not think of a strategy beforehand to deal with something that can get inside his head and read his bloody mind! This whole exciting magical world experience had made his careless.

The Hat was not wrong that he had no ambition. He could not think of a single thing that he desires above all else-It's simply not worth the trouble. If he had learned anything from his years at the Dursleys, it was that desires and ownerships were all burdens. Didn't his life get better when he stopped yearning for things he could not have and wanting approval from those fickle people? When he became the one with nothing to lose, it was as if he had taken a step back, and from a distance he saw how ridiculous they all looked, struggling to hold on to the things they _care_.

"Say you are right about me having no ambition" Harry conceded "but I am very resourceful when I need to be, that should count for something."

"Slytherin is the home for the ambitious" the voice said "despite what others may think, that driving force is the most important quality of a true Slytherin. I'm afraid you don't belong there."

"...What if I insist?"

The hat shifted on his head "I still cannot put you where you don't belong."

"Fine" Harry's hands gripped the edge of the stool tightly "but you have to put me somewhere. What about Gryffindor, I'm told I can be extremely reckless." He said in a tone of self mockery.

"Recklessness and self abandonment are not the same as courage"

The Hat's voice was soft and even, but it rang like a mocking laugh in Harry's ears.

"So you think you know _all_ about me, with your damned mind magics" Harry was losing control of his mental voice "Just send me back then, there's nothing I can do to stop you."

"Oh no, that I can not do" the Hat said "I must place you somewhere. A placs that helps you grow...Things change. I trust that, with time, you will care, like everyone else does, and maybe you will even learn real courage! Courage and fear, they are inseparable you see..."

Harry frowned. The crazy old Hat was getting on his nerves.

"Impatient to be sorted, uh? There's only one place that's the best for you, and that is GRYNFFINDOR!"

The last word was shouted to the entire hall. The Gryffindor table erupted into the loudest cheers this night had ever heard

"We've got Potter! We've got Potter!"

 **So Neville was cut out when I squeezed two chapters content into one...LOL**

 **Please review!**


	4. His Hogwarts Adventure

His Hogwarts Adventures

Behind the closed door of one of the stalls in the girl's bathroom, Hermione Granger sat on the toilet, sobbing.  
This was not what she had in mind when she received her Hogwarts Letter. She had been so thrilled about going to Hogwarts and so passionate about learning magics, but somehow she managed to mess it up so spectacularly. Ron Weasley was right that she had no friends. Nobody here liked her. The girls talked to her only because they didn't want to be mean, and Neville, Neville probably hated her guts as well, but was just too shy to say anything.  
She wiped away tears with the back of her hand furiously, and tried to calm herself by breathing slowly, but her breath was shaky and the tears kept raining down. She couldn't stop think about those boys, Harry, Ron, Seamus, Dean...the whole lot of them. She thought she was doing the right thing, admonishing them for constantly losing points in potions and for losing that twenty points from fighting with the Slytherins. But how come nobody ever took her side? How come she ended up all alone, crying in the bathroom? All this time she thought she was right...she was just making a fool of herself. 4cansofpepsi Her stomach hurt from hunger, and she missed her parents. She would give anything to be home with them right now.  
A horrible stench suddenly filled the air, and Hermione crinkled her nose in disgust.

 _What is that smell?_

Revolted, she cracked the stall door open. She heard footsteps. They were slow but heavy, like an old man carrying a cumbersome weight.

"Who's there?" She asked in a timid voice.  
No reply came, but the footsteps were getting closer.

"Go back, I don't want to see anyone!"

A thick, grey colored arm appeared in front of the bathroom door, then the grotesque creature revealed itself. It was at least twelve feet high, with legs as thick as tree trunks, and it reeked of rotten corpses.  
Hermione stared into its cloudy eyes and screamed at the top of her lungs.  
That thing sniffed at her with its ugly pig snout, and raised the wooden club in its hand high into the air.

 _Move_

Hermione willed her petrified body to do something, anything, instead of frozen there like a deer in the headlight.

She spun around and run back into the stall just in time to for the blow to miss, and bolted the door shut. The loud clash of the club hitting the wall made her squirm. It's not going to hold. There was one long, dreadful second, when everything was still. Then the wooden door broke into a hundred pieces before her eyes. Splinters cut deep into her face, though she felt no pain.

 _I'm going to die here._ She thought. Large brown eyes widened in fear, as if seeing the very face of death.

"Thud" Something metal hit the monster's head.

"Oy, peabrain!" A voice yelled. The monster turned its head stupidly, and slowly, moved away.

Hermione was able to breathe relief washing over her was so strong, she almost collapsed on the floor. Turning to face the entrance of the bathroom, she looked for her savior, and saw the most fantastical thing. It was a group of pirates!

There were four of them, standing in the entrance. The one on the left had a black eye patch and a silver hook. He picked up another piece of rubble from the floor and threw it at the monster. "Over here!"

The monster made a feral groan and charged. The group of pirates quickly scattered to dodge the blow. Its club sunk deep into the floor, making a huge dent.  
"What do we do now?" The one pirate with a ridiculous hat asked.  
"Run!" Black eye patch yelled.  
Before he could move, though, the monster took another swing, this time aimed directly at him. He dodged out of the way quickly, the club narrowly missing his head. But the monster had cornered him. His back was against the wall and there was no room to dodge its next attack.  
"Harry!" The ridiculous hat shouted.  
 _He called him Harry._ Somewhere in Hermione's fear ridden brain she recognized who they were.

"Leave him alone!" The one pirate with a wooden leg bent down, picked up a large rubble with both hands, and swung it at the monster.  
The stone barely made a scratch on the troll, but it was going berserk and swinging the club wildly from these pestering attacks. The walls around them broke under its brute force like paper, and shattered tiles and glass flew everywhere.  
Hermione knew that it was only a matter of time before someone got badly injured.. or killed.  
"It's a mountain troll" She suddenly remembered "Hit it on the head! Its head is vulnerable!"  
Harry cursed loudly, and drove the silver hook on his right hand into the troll's leg. It penetrated its tough skin and produced a trickle of blood. The troll stopped in its crazed club swinging and aimed a kick at Harry's head, putting all its terrible force into it. But Harry was way faster. He abandoned the hook and jumped onto the troll, grabbing its arm. The troll started flailing violently, trying to shake him off. Harry was swinging in the air ungracefully, with his pirate boots on the verge of falling off, but his grip was tight and he held on.

Hermione and the boys stared in horror at the scene. Potter must be losing his mind!  
Harry reached the troll's shoulder and pulled himself up. He was within arms reach to the troll's head. As quick as a flash, he pulled a wand from his robes and stabbed it into the troll's eye. His wand plunged deep into its eyeball. Blood gushed out of its socket.

The troll screamed in agony, Hermione screamed, and Harry shouted.

Amid this chaos, a white light erupted from the troll's socket and the next second, its head exploded, bones cracked open and brains splattered all over the walls.

The troll took one more staggering step, and fell face down into the floor. A thundering thud, followed by a long silence.  
"Merlin's socks" The pirate with the wooden leg was the first to break the silence. It was Ron.  
It was one of the rare occasions, when Hermione agreed with what Ron had to said wholeheartedly, for nothing else could express her feelings adequately right now, except maybe throwing up from the stench of troll blood.

Harry clambered up from the troll's fallen body with his face caked in blood and gagged.

"I think I'm going to throw up." He said weakly.  
A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made all of them look up. What they saw was more frightening than ten trolls combined-Professor McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell stood in the entrance.  
Quirrell whimpered at the sight of the mutilated troll and clutched his heart. Snape was more interested in the suspicious condition of the troll, but McGonagall looked like she was going to rain justice upon them in the form of fireballs any moment. "What on earth happened here?" She demanded. Hermione carried herself out of the stall on trembling legs.

"Please, Professor, they were looking for me."

"Miss Granger!"

"We were trying to save her, Professor. " Harry said, wiping the blood from his face "Patil told us she was in the bathroom and didn't know about the troll. We didn't really have time to get an adult before it was too late."  
Professor McGonagall looked slightly pacified, but only slightly.  
"And what blew the troll's head off?"

"Harry offed it." Ron said.  
"He was hanging on the troll like Spider-Man" Seamus added, his ridiculous hat lopsided "And bang! its head exploded like a watermelon."  
The professors looked confused at what a Spider-Man was, but more importantly, shocked to hear Harry blew off the head of a troll. As if confirming Seamus's story, Harry reached down and pulled out his wand from the troll's socket. His wand made a "plop" sound and came out with brain matter sticking on it.

"Very destructive magic performed inside the skull." Snape observed.  
McGonagall fumed "Do I need to remind you how dangerous it is to practice spells ahead of yourself?"

"I didn't use a spell" Harry said innocently "It just happened."  
Snape narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"Five points will be taken from Grynffindor for your recklessness." McGonagall said, looking around the room as if daring them to object. Hermione lowered her head in shame. McGonagall went on "But, not many people are willing to fight a troll to save a fellow housemate, or successfully defeat it in that matter. You each win five points for your bravery and luck."  
The boys exchanged looks and grinned.  
"A quick wand check will certainly tell us which spell Mister Potter here casted" Snape said "for the investigation of the death of a magical creature, of course."

All eyes were on Harry now, who suddenly smiled, though it was hard to tell with the blood all over his face."-How do you like our costumes, professor? " He asked McGonagall "We dressed up as pirates."  
Snape looked like he wanted to curse Harry until his brains fell out, but couldn't do anything with the Gryffindor Head of House right next to him. McGonagall remained stern but her mouth twitched in the ghost of a smile. "Be grateful you are still alive" She said "The Headmaster will be informed of this and he will decide how to proceed. Now you'd better get back to the Gryffindor tower. They're continuing the feast in there."  
The boys slowly filed out of the room. Hermione just realized how hungry she was, and followed behind.

"I need a shower." Harry said gloomily.

"Cheer up, we won twenty points." Ron said.  
"Fifteen if we subtract the five." Dean added.  
"And we messed up our costumes." Seamus said with a sour face "My dad's not gonna like this."  
"Forget about it, we'll get better ones next Halloween."  
"What's that magic you did in there?" Hermione cut in, not being able to hold back her raging curiosity. Harry blinked, and Hermione blushed.

 _God, I must sound so rude_. She mentally kicked herself.

"I don't know" Harry said simply.  
Hermione tried desperately to come up with something to say. "Thank you for saving me" she said.  
"You're welcome." Harry said.

Hermione was out of things to say now, her brilliant mind coming up blank for funny and polite conversation starters, so she kept quiet and trailed behind. Soon they arrived at the Gryffindor tower. Hermione grabbed a quick bite at the table, and feeling exhausted, headed to her dormitory. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Next day, and the day after, and the day after that, Hermione tried to find an opportunity to talk with the boys about what happened, especially with Harry. But she was finding that much more difficult than she expected. They were definitely not hostile to her anymore, but their interactions were limited to friendly daily exchanges. The boys were a strangely tight knit group, and they shared things like inside jokes-she could never fit in. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but deep down she was a bit disappointed. She thought people were supposed to bond after surviving a near death experience together. Time passed quickly, soon Christmas break came, and she went back home to her family, meaning that she didn't see any of them for the entire holiday.  
Now, it may sound like she paid a lot of special attention to them, but her life mostly revolved around other things like classes, books and homework. The troll accident had taught her things, and she was not hammering everyone with scores and house points anymore, meaning she made some very nice friends of her own.

After a happy Christmas break, she almost put the boys completely behind her. But then, something happened that put her in a very difficult was in the library looking for some light reading materials, when she heard talking voices coming from behind the bookshelf .

"Are you going again tonight?" Ron's voice asked.

Hermione was alarmed to hear how worried he sounded, so she held her breath and listened.

"Probably." Harry's voice answered.

"But it's dangerous, you could get caught." There was a small pause "Seamus woke up last night and noticed you were not in your bed."

"Did you tell them?" Harry asked coldly.  
"Of course not! I just acted like I didn't know anything when they asked me."  
"Good. "  
"Why are you so obsessed with it anyway? I bet that mirror has some freaky magic on it. I still don't think it's a good idea to go."  
"I'm not _obsessed_. That mirror was the only spotless thing in a dirt covered room. Someone put it there recently for a reason and I want to know. Don't worry about me, ok? I've got the Cloak. I'll be fine."  
"Whatever you say, mate."  
Ron sounded defeated, and the conversation ended in silence.

Hermione snuck away, careful not to be seen. Harry was sneaking out at night! It took her only a second to make up her mind. There was only one thing she could do.

At night, after everyone in her dorm was sound asleep, Hermione tiptoed out of her bed and into the common room. It was cold and dark, but Hermione prided herself in being prepared. The coldness was nothing against her determination to stop Harry Potter. Fully covered in the warm robe and shoes she brought, she sat on the sofa, waiting. An hour passed, and Hermione had recited the constellations they learned in astronomy eight times. Nothing happened.

 _Be patient._ She told herself. _Consider it prep work for the finals_.

Next she moved on to potions ingredients, names and functions, history and frequent misuses. Next to the plants from Herbology. Her head was dizzy by the time she got to the Goblin Wars from Magical History. She was stifling a yawn, when she caught something strange from the corner of her eyes. The trap door flap opened!  
She rubbed away the sleepiness in her eyes and blinked. It was real, something was going through the trap door.  
"Wait!" She said, jumping out of the armchair to chase after it. She pushed the trap door open, and shuddered from the cold air outside. Before her were the familiar corridors and stairs. She couldn't find anything moving, even the portraits were asleep.

"What is it with children nowadays?" The Fat Lady said grumpily.  
"Did you see anyone go through?" Hermione asked.  
"Nobody besides you" she said "A gust of wind woke me, I think, can't be sure. Get back to your room, my dear, and let an old portrait get some sleep."

The Fat Lady wasn't helpful at all, but Hermione thanked her anyway. She trudged back into her dorm, going over everything she knew in her head. _It wasn't all for nothing_. She comforted herself. _Now I know that Harry Potter has a cloak that makes him invisible._

Harry, on the other hand, was well on his way to the Mirror. Protected by his invisibility, he slipped through the castle expertly, without waking a single portrait-he didn't get called a slippery bastard by the Dursleys for nothing.  
He made a mental note to deal with Granger later. For now his mind was occupied with the Mirror, emotions of longing and self-disgust stirring up a whirlwind in his chest. True, he wanted to know who put the Mirror there. It was also a convenient lie to feed Ron, who discovered the Mirror with him their first time out together. The real reason for his obsession was something he didn't want to admit. This was going to be the last time. He was going to say goodbye and walk away. Harry swear he will hang himself on the chandelier in the Great Hall if he ever goes to the Mirror again.  
He was almost there. Standing outside the abandoned classroom that housed the Mirror, Harry pushed the door open without a second thought.  
In the dimly-lit room, the Mirror stood facing him. James and Lily Potter smiled and waved, extending to him their welcoming arms. But something else forcefully took away Harry's attention.  
A silver bearded man sat on one of the desks, smiling fondly at him.  
For a brief moment Harry considered running away, but he quickly realized that would be the wrong move. The Headmaster was looking directly at him, making him feel vulnerable despite his invisibility. He must be waiting for him.

Like a hunter next to a trap. The metaphor popped into Harry's head. "I was hoping you wouldn't return, Harry."  
Harry pulled the Cloak off his head.  
"Professor Dumbledore."  
"So, you, like hundreds before you, have discovered the delights of the Mirror of Erised." He said, motioning Harry to come in.

Harry walked in and shut the door behind them. "It didn't feel like a delight, sir."  
"Indeed" The Headmaster nodded at him "It is torturous to be shown what one wants so desperately, but could not have. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they had seen, or be driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible. I have thought you smarter than this, Harry."

Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi

The carvings on the Mirror said.

I show not your face but your hearts desire.

"I was coming to smash it, actually." Harry said with a smile.  
Blue eyes twinkled at him behind half moon spectacles "To kill your deepest desire yourself, that is easier said than done.  
Harry took another look at the mirror. The green eyed woman and the messy haired man smiled warmly at him. The perfect, flawless family, as fake as the mannequins in the display window of a family clothing stores. Harry felt another surge of hatred at himself for wanting something he could never have, for his sole wish in the world was an impossible fantasy.

"Oh Trust me it can be done, if you hate it as much as I do." He thought.  
"Wanna see me try?" He asked in a light hearted tone.  
"As much as I would enjoy seeing you overcome its lure, this is the only Mirror of Erised left in Europe, and I intend to keep it in one piece" Dumbledore said with a soft chuckle "I didn't believe it when told that you have a tendency for smashing thing, but it appears that I was wrong."  
Harry mentally sighed. He knew he had a talk with the Headmaster coming his way.

"Is this about the troll or the owl's stable?"  
"Both, I'm afraid" Dumbledore said "And Mr. Malfoy's cauldron, too."  
"All of them are accidents, sir."  
"Including Mr. Malfoy's cauldron?"  
"Especially Malfoy's cauldron."  
Harry said, observing the old man carefully. McGonagall or Snape would be furious at his cheek right now, but Dumbledore looked rather calm. In fact, Harry couldn't tell what he was thinking at all.  
"I stay out of children's business as much as I can, but practicing powerful spells on your own is much more serious than peer rivalry."

"I didn't use a spell on the troll-it just happened." Pretty sure the Headmaster had a hundred ways to test his lies, Harry answered honestly "I have been practicing some third year spells. After what happened with the troll, I figured they would come in handy, but they aren't powerful enough to hurt anyone."

"I'm glad to hear that, Harry" Dumbledore smiled like a gentle therapist "However, there are many better ways to deal with our problems other than violence, Harry. This Mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow. If you ever run across if again, remember, it does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live. Now, why don't you put that admirable cloak back on and get off to bed."  
Harry nodded and covered himself with the cloak. Before he left, though, he asked "Can I ask you something, sir?"  
"Obviously, you've just done so" Dumbledore smiled "You may ask me one more thing, however."  
Under the cloak, Harry could roll his eyes freely. This old man was having too much fun talking to him.

"Are you the one who sent me the cloak?"

"Yes, but it hardly matters. It belonged to your father, and now it belongs to you. "  
"Thank you, Professor. Have a good night" Harry said politely before leaving.  
As soon as he was away from the Headmaster's presence, he let out a sigh of relief. Harry did not enjoy talking to someone he could not read. He would even prefer the combination of a Snape and a troll over the kind Headmaster.

Did he sit there all night waiting for me? Why the special attention, just because he was the Boy Who Lived?Did he have eyes everywhere in the school? And most importantly What does he want from me?  
Burdened with these questions with no answers, Harry climbed back to bed.


End file.
